As The New Century School entered the third quarter of the 2016–2017 school year, things started to get pretty “STEAM-y” for elementary students, curriculum-wise, that is. This post will be the first in a series that explores some of the many Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math–related activities they undertook.
“Cool” Engineering Challenge
In science class, STEM teacher Dan McGonigal transitioned into a unit on heat energy and how it transfers. He gave students a fun engineering challenge to “save the penguins.” Working in pairs, students were tasked with developing a dwelling that would keep a penguin made of ice from melting. To do so, they investigated how different materials act as insulators against different types of heat transfer.
Field Trip!
As February wound down, elementary students began looking ahead a bit to their fourth-quarter science unit: the Industrial Revolution. On February 28th, 2nd- through 6th-graders took a field trip to The Baltimore Museum of Industry to learn more about energy as well as to experience what the Industrial Revolution was like in Baltimore: “The Baltimore Museum of Industry celebrates Maryland’s industrial legacy and shows how innovation fuels ongoing progress. . . exhibitions, educational programs, and collections engage visitors in the stories of the people who built Baltimore and those who shape the region’s future.”
In addition to touring all of the amazing galleries that allowed TNCS students to relive Baltimore’s early days as a trading port and manufacturing hub and featuring the authentic tools and machines used back then, they also got to put their engineering skills to work.
First, they learned how mass production revolutionized the car industry and manned their own assembly line.
They were also given the chance to engineer a ramp to send cars down and see who’s car traveled farthest and to design other transportation-related innovations. Time-traveling back to the present day temporarily, they also got to design their own video games.
Next they got a close-up of what it would be like to work in 1929 in the garment industry, which Baltimore was a major player in, in the 18th and 19th centuries. TNCS students were spun a tale of strenuous but monotonous toil for very long hours, poor working conditions including overcrowding and extreme heat, and little pay. Although fascinated, none of them will be sitting down at a sewing machine anytime soon!
Other interactive exhibits they toured included the 1865 Platt and Company oyster cannery (the only surviving cannery building in Baltimore and the museum building), a 1910 pharmacy (or “Druggist’s shop,” much like the one where Noxzema skin cream was invented), a print shop (the linotype was also invented in Baltimore), and a machine shop.
TNCS elementary students enjoyed their taste of old industrial Baltimore and learning the roots of their 21st-century engineering projects. More importantly, they were inspired by this special field trip to begin working on their STEM Fair projects the very next week and threw themselves into those endeavors with zeal—stay tuned for more on the TNCS 2017 STEM Fair as well as posts featuring other elements of STEAM (hint, Math and Art)!
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